Friday, April 21, 2017

Not really few are those who believe that
the Commandments - clear, plain and simple Mandates authored by Divinity for
humanity to comply with – are but intended for the life hereafter and beyond or
for the purely spiritual welfare and eternal salvation of those who comply
therewith. Kindly but categorically said: Yes, they definitely have relevance in the
thereafter and beyond. But yes too, they
certainly have their impact here and now.
Reason: Their violations not
simply make the victims suffer and mourn here and now but also make their
violators marked candidates for agonizing hereafter and beyond.

If the Philippines is becoming a more and
more dangerous place to live in or even to go to as officially warned by
different Countries to safeguard their respective citizens from killings day
and night, if the Filipinos have an increasing number of suffering and
agonizing separated families plus progressively more unwedded couples to the
big disorientation plus bitter lamentations of their children in particular, if
many among the People of the Philippines are denied their public welfare and
thus remain wallowing in poverty and misery – all these are by and large caused
by killings here and there, by adulteries among many spouses plus but
cohabitations among men and women plus gross dishonesty specially on the part
of their public officials supposedly working for their public welfare.

Killing. Is there anything at all
more precious than life? Wealth, power
and fame? Authority, wisdom and
strength? Prestige, prominence and
honor? With the taking away of life,
what is there that remains? The soul is
invaluable. But this truth is basically
in view of its timelessness to
come. But in the sphere of the here and
now, life is the summit of all human attributions so that killing is in turn
the neutralization of all human endowments.
So it is that killing one or more individuals essentially equals
downright erasure of their living existence.

Adultery: Human dignity such as in
terms of fidelity to an oath knowingly made and willfully assumed for a
lifetime, can be readily considered as the apex of the dignity among married
men and women – without any reference to power or wealth, fame or fortune. So it is that the violation of a solemn
promise taken or a sacred commitment made, equals human indignity, betrayal, falsity even. It is an exercise in futility to make
aduletery a reason for pride and celebration.
So it is that adultery is a big, shameful, dishonorable, self-cheapening
phenomenon.

Stealing: Greed, avarice,
rapaciousness – these are the basic triggering factors of stealing. What one does not own is precisely because
the stolen goods rightfully belong to someone else if not to others as
well. Even children are again and again
insistently and repeatedly told in one way or the other, not to take what is
not theirs. There are however these
already rich individuals plus those families already reeking in wealth and
abundance that remain insatiable and thus covetous of what rightfully belong to
others.

Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal.
Are these elementary and universal mandates too hard to understand?

Oscar Cruz

About The Blogger

Most Reverend Oscar V. Cruz, D.D. is the Archbishop-Emeritus of Lingayen-Dagupan. He is currently the Judicial Vicar of the National Tribunal of Appeals. He is a prolific writer, having published several dozen books mostly on judicial and moral matters. His most recent book is about the Social Doctrines of the Church. He also has a blog where he posts regularly. He is an avid coin collector and dabbles in woodworking art.